Author: Andrea Charlaine

Some exciting things are coming up in my life. In June I will be moving in with some friends to a new apartment, and I just found out this week that I have been accepted to the Fashion Institute of Technology’s graphic design program. Hopefully my credits from Pratt will transfer so that I can enter their one year program, but that’s not clear yet. Fingers crossed.

Earlier this week, Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart of Vaute Couture came to Pratt for a talk, and it was very inspiring to learn more about her life story, how she came to be an activist (at an incredibly young age!) and all the hard work it took to start such an incredible business. I am planning to apply for an internship there once I’m back in the swing of things with school. If I could use my skills at a company like that, I would be so thrilled and grateful.

I also wrote and produced a simple song for my friend’s thesis animation, and I’m very excited to be able to share that with you when it is finally completed! The way the song is used in the film is much different than how it is arranged here, but would love y’all to check it out! Music has kind of been on the back-burner for me lately, so it was nice to be pushed to make something from start to finish for somebody else.

I have also been trying to eat healthier. I realized that there have literally been sequential weeks in this year that I haven’t eaten a single fruit. It costs money to buy groceries (shocking!), so I’ve been pretty much living off of old food from my job when we don’t sell it to be frugal. It’s all vegan, of course, but not necessarily balanced and healthy to only be eating that stuff. There’s only so much nutrition in a chocolate muffin, vegan or not… ;P I’m already feeling so much better just by incorporating more raw fruits and vegetables. I’d love to try going fully raw for a few weeks and see what that’s like, but it is just entirely out of my budget right now!

Anyway, super excited to get back to posting here more regularly. I need to be more disciplined. I have been wanting to do a weekly or at least bi-weekly art post of things I’ve created, but I just have been totally unmotivated lately. The warm spring weather here though, in addition to the news of my acceptance to FIT has given me a bit of a push, so expect to hear more from me in the coming weeks! 🙂

Big news for my closet: I finally got a Vaute Couture coat! They were having a flash sale and I knew there may not be another day for awhile where I could get 75% off so I went for it and am very glad I did. The one I got is the Pegasus. It is honestly the warmest coat I’ve ever worn. For that reason alone I wish winter wasn’t going away so quickly!

Yesterday it was almost 60 degrees so I went to Red Hook for the first time since summer just to explore. It was really nice. Got some bodega fries and a vegan bento box from Fairway. Day was well spent. 🙂

I’m actually very excited about going back to school. I hope that I am accepted and get into the one year program for an associate’s degree and then I can see what I want to do from there. If anyone reading has been to FIT, I’d love to hear about your experiences!

On Sunday I had a really nice day with my friend walking through Manhattan, eating deliciously at Red Bamboo, and taking photos. There was even a classical pianist at Washington Square Park which was nice. I don’t go into the city enough!

Anyway, It was so nice out, and it continues to be nice this week. The snow is melting too fast! The sun is great and comfy, but I actually really wouldn’t mind another blizzard…

Some potential life changes have been set into motion. After probably too much hesitation, I have decided to apply to go back to school. Thankfully, I already have most of what I need together with just five days until the application deadline now. There are going to be a few sleepless nights until then. Hopefully I make it in. I also got a second job, which I was not expecting! I’m super excited to get back to being a student and getting into some new things.

It is also just so incredibly nice today that I was comfortable even without sleeves. Ridiculous! I guess this snow won’t be sticking around for too long.

Loving running this blog so far as well, even if I’m still a bit embarrassed about it when I’m asked about it in real life. I’m weird.

Had a great night with a few friends for my birthday last night. Most of the stores and restaurants were closed but I got some really great mushroom and spinach vegan tacos from a nearby Mexican restaurant. I loved how quiet the streets were. It felt like a ghost town, or just like another world. It was… comfortable, in a way. Today the world has woken up again. Back to business as usual.

I love beans. Not only are they super delicious and versatile, they are also one of the best bangs for your buck in the food department.

My favorite quick meal to make when I’m at home is black bean burgers. It’s super simple! Whenever I make them for folks who haven’t made them for themselves before, they’re surprised that it’s so easy! You can season them however you want, and prepare them however suits your fancy. Sometimes I’ll have them with salad, or on a doughnut from Dun-Well (okay, that honestly has only happened twice so far, but lemme tell you: the best way to eat anything, is on a vegan doughnut). However, today I’m gonna share with you a way that is maybe a little less indulgent than a Luther Burger and a little more on the healthy side of things.

So seriously, if you don’t want to read any further, here is the tl;dr version of my black bean burger recipe:

one can of black beans, rinse, mush ’em all up with a fork or whatever utensil you have handy, form into two patties, and fry over medium-high heat with some olive oil.

It’s really that easy. Most times I literally just do that with a bit of salt and pepper and I’m good to go. Here’s the variation I cooked up the other day as shown in the photos above:

If you’ve never made black bean burgers before, definitely don’t be afraid to give it a shot! It’s super simple. I made them for the first time about a year ago and now make them at least once a week and don’t get bored.

Tomorrow’s my 21st birthday! If you look real close at that last photo there, you can see some under-eye wrinkles… Getting old. 😉

I treated myself to a Fujifilm Instax Mini 90 and I have to say, it’s now my most prized possession. I don’t doubt that I’m going to just become obsessed and start collecting instant cameras. I’m planning on it, in fact.

Really loving the mild weather here in NY right now. But we’ve got a snow storm expected this Saturday. Should be fun though. What’s winter without a storm? Might not be a blizzard, but a girl can dream. My birthday plans were originally to go out and do some karaoke this Saturday night. I’ve never done it, but have always wanted to. Hopefully that works out, otherwise we’re gonna stay in and play board games. I know how to party, obviously.